Tips for Making Lemon and Almond Shortbread Bars

Lemon curd is generally added to cakes and cookies after baking, but in this recipe for Lemon and Almond Shortbread Bars the lemon curd is baked in, giving it a custard-like texture. To make life easier, the lemon curd can be made a few days in advance. This is a perfect treat for parties, hostess gifts and on rainy days with a cup of tea.

Before grating the dough into the pan, line it with parchment paper. Rip out a sheet of parchment larger than your baking dish and, working one side at a time, press the parchment down and run your finger along the seam where the side meets the bottom. Make sure the parchment is high enough to rise just slightly above the pan’s edge. Once you get to the corner, gently fold the parchment so that you can easily move onto the adjacent side (usually, it folds naturally into the corner). Once you’ve done it a couple times, it’s much easier than tracing parchment with a pencil and cutting it out to fit exactly and makes removing the bars from the pan much easier.